Improvement in drying oil-cloths and similar fabrics



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

OLIVER O. VASHBURN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THOMASPOTTER, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN DRYING OIL-CLOTHS AND'SIMILAR FABRICS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 110,702, dated January3, 1871.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, OLIVER C. WAsHBURN, ofthe city and county of Philadelphia, in the State 0f Pennsylvania, haveinvented a ner and useful Improvement in Drying Oil-Cloths and SimilarFabrics; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description thereof, which lwill enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use myinvention, reference being hadto the accom panyin gdrawin g, which forms a part of this speciication,and represents my apparat-us in perspective.

In the ordinary method of drying oil-cloth, after sizing it is eitherleft in the frame on which it is stretched While the size is brushed on,or spread on an open rack, and it is then exposed to the open air or toartificial heat. This method occupies considerable time and isuncertain, often resulting` in an imperfect article. It' the atmospherebe Warm or moist the size is decomposed so as to be Worthless.

My invention is designed to remedy these defects, and consists in keeping the cloth cony tinually in motion While exposing it to an artificialheat, which evaporates the Water that holds the size in solution. Italso consists in the apparatus to be describech A represents a chamberor steam-closet, the Walls and doors of which are partly removed andbroken away to show the steam-pipes B B C C, by which it is heated, aswell as the rollers I), E, F, and G, the last of which is revolved byany suitable mechanism.

In the operation of my improvement, the cloth to be dried is passed overthe roller D and attached t0 a band or equivalent device which passesround the other rollers and isl fastened to the roller The roller G isthen revolved slowly, so as to impart a very slow progressive movementto the cloth, during which it is in close proximity to the heatingpipes,both When passing overthe rollers D E and under F G, and is kept out ofcontact with the pipes by strips H or other suitable means.

I prefer to make the distance from the pair of rollers D F to the pair EG about olie-half the length of the fabric. A cloth ninety feet inlength, when the distance from the rollers D F to the opposite pair isforty-live feet, and the motion of the roller D is adjusted so that anygiven point on the cloth Will occupy about an hour in passing from D toG, will be thoroughly dried at the end of that time. By this means notonly is a great saving of time effected and the size preserved fromdecomposition, but the cloth is rolled up on the roller G perfectlystraight and free from wrinkles.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, is-

1. The arrangement of heatingpipes and rollers, operatingas shown anddescribed.

2. The process of drying oil-cloth and similar fabrics by exposing' themWhile in continual motion to artificial heat, substantially asdescribed.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 28th day ofNovember, A. D. 1870.

OLIVER C. WASHBURN.

Witnesses JAMES F. HOPE, EDW. S. WORRELL.

